 You have most likely heard of the Food Network show Chopped. Well, a similar kitchen showdown is taking place in central Minnesota. Our Sarah Wicklman joins us live from our Brainerd studio with those details. Sarah? Yeah, Josh. It was a pretty exciting night tonight as Sprout and Little Falls hosted their first ever cooking competition known as Minced. Now, it's exactly like the show Chopped with three judges, or three rounds, excuse me, a panel of judges and a mystery box of ingredients that you have to use, all while the clock is ticking down. You kind of have to formulate a plan and, you know, envision what kind of dish you're going to make. My heart kind of sank because one of the ingredients I've never seen or worked with in my life. That was just a tough one. Three local chefs faced off in the ultimate cooking competition. Twenty minutes is really a time crunch to try to really get something to put together. The idea that I had, it came through on the plate. You know, I guess we're all our own worst critics and oh, I should have done this. I should have done that. No, no, no. As thoughts, ideas and creations came to life while designing the perfect plate. You want to look for presentation because that's the first thing you see. If there's an aroma, you want to take that in. You want to use your senses and, you know, make sure that whatever the chef has come up with is in line with what the ingredients are meant to be. By bringing a good balance of flavors from local ingredients. Our region is very rich in our agricultural history and in the growers that feed us. And we just want to bring that narrative to light and have people have the opportunity to play with their food. And have connection with one another. And what better way to bring the community together than through some quality food. Trying to do something for the community to shift the way that people eat in the community to start eating healthier, fresher, you know, breaking the norm here for Minnesota. Even though the cooking tonight was done by the professionals, the community members will take home some recipes of inspiration. Hopefully it'll also bring more people in to cook because we all know the more we cook at home, the more healthy we'll be and the better we'll feel and the more we'll support the local food system, which is what this is all about. Although the night was all about local food, it was also just a lot of fun. And there were three great chefs representing Brainerd, Crosby and St. Cloud. But at the end of the night it was Chef Scotty from the Iron Range eatery in Crosby who took home the Master Chef and the People's Choice Award. Reporting live from the Brainerd studio, Sarah Winkleman, Lakeland News. All right, thank you very much, Sarah. The funds raised at tonight's event will go towards launching the new Sprout mobile market aimed at closing the missing meal gap in rural Minnesota. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.